These vegan and wheat-free tortillas are made with just two basic ingredients (plus spices and water). Chickpea flour and flax meal make for deliciously pliable tortillas for tacos, wraps and more!
But can we all agree that in the flour vs. corn debate, flour tortillas are clearly the superior taste winners? But also: those doughy and pliable rounds are all made out of refined flour and lard. Ew.
Luckily, it’s now possible to make really similar tortillas out of just chickpeas, flour and flaxseed. GET EXCITED!
The key: chickpea flour, which is also known as garbanzo bean flour, gram flour or besan. It’s just ground chickpeas and it has approximately double the nutrition of masa harina (the corn flour used in corn tortillas).
¼ cup of masa harina = 100 calories, 2g fiber, 3g protein
¼ cup of chickpea flour = 110 calories, 5g fiber, 6g protein!!!!
Chickpea flour is one of the cheapest alternative flours you can buy—if you can’t find it in your local grocery store, it’s available in a lot of ethnic markets OR you can just buy a pack of dried garbanzo beans and grind the flour yourself in a powerful blender or food processor.
These are amazing—doughy, just like flour tortillas, with the perfect amount of chew and a slightly nutty flavor. They’re just slightly less springy (they’ll crack if you happen to try to wrap an especially thick tortilla around a wet burrito filling). Instead of rolling out dough like traditional tortillas, these cook up like crepes with a runny batter. They take just a few minutes to make and then voila! A healthy, fiber-filled tortilla is ready for any number of fillings you feel like throwing at it.
If you don’t have flaxseed, you can omit it, but I highly recommend it for an extra nutritional boost. Again, these are vegan and gluten-free, but I stuffed them with the highly NOT vegan filling of steamed kale, egg whites, tomatoes, parmesan and avocado. It was delicious.
Chickpea Flour Tortillas
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed flax meal
- 1 cup chickpea garbanzo bean flour
- 2/3 cup water + additional if necessary
- pinch of salt
- pinch of cumin
Instructions
- Whisk together the flax meal, chickpea flour, water, salt and cumin and whisk until there are no lumps. Let sit for five minutes to thicken slightly. The mixture should be about the consistency of pancake batter. If you want thicker tortillas, use only 2/3 cup water. I liked the texture at around 1 cup of water; just add water a tablespoon or two at a time until you reach a consistency you like.
- Preheat a lightly greased 9-inch frying pan over medium heat. Pour about ½ cup of batter into the pan and swirl to coat the bottom. Let cook for 2-3 minutes or until you see the edges start to dry out. You will easily be able to slide your spatula underneath the tortilla when the bottom is fully cooked and ready to be flipped. Flip and cook for an additional 30-60 seconds, then remove from pan and repeat with another ½ cup of batter.
- I didn’t need to re-grease the pan between tortillas, but if your tortillas start sticking to the pan, add a little oil to the pan and swirl it around before adding the batter. I laid the cooked tortillas flat on a plate, slightly overlapping each other. I folded a few of the last ones in two since I was running out of space, but the thicker tortillas started to break along the fold. I would recommend storing the cooked, cooled tortillas on a plate covered with plastic wrap in the fridge.
- To kale burrito your tortillas: Add 3 cups of kale to the pan over medium-high heat once you’re finished cooking the tortillas. Cover and steam for 1-2 minutes. Add four egg whites–whisked until foamy–chopped tomatoes, grated parmesan, salt and pepper. Scramble everything until cooked through. Top with avocado, roll up and eat!
Notes
Nutrition
Stacy
I was just wondering what’s the best way to store any leftover batter or cooked wraps of the chickpea wraps, to make it quick and easy to just grab one already prepared and go?
erika
Hi Stacy! If you wanted to store leftover batter, I would suggest refrigerating it in a covered container and giving it a whisk again before you make it. I cooked mine all at once and kept them folded in a tupperware (which I actually don’t recommend because some of them tore along the fold). What I WOULD suggest is, once they’re cool, layering them flat on a plate and cover that with plastic wrap. That should make it easy to grab and go!
Thanks for the question–I’ll add that to the instructions 🙂
Selena
These look so amazing and simple to make! Would it be possible to substitute the chickpea flour for whole wheat flour or oat flour?
erika
Since I haven’t tried it, I can’t say for sure…I think whole wheat flour would definitely work, but you might want to cut down on the water since chickpea flour really sucks up moisture more than other flours. If you try oat flour, I would try half oat flour and half wheat flour first before doing all oat just because it tends to be crumbly. Let me know how they turn out!! 🙂
Selena
I think I will give whole wheat a try this weekend! Will definitely let you know how they come out! Thanks for this awesome recipe 🙂
Alicia
This looks amazing! I have been vegan for about a year now, but I have been struggling to transition to a gluten free diet at my doctor’s suggestion. I am definitely going to try these! How yummy 🙂 Thanks for sharing!!
erika
Yay! Let me know how you like them!
Kaylie @ Skinny Muffin
Girl, you fancy. Making your own tortillas? That’s chef status right there.
erika
🙂 YOU fancy!
Alex @ Brain, Body, Because
I have NO focus for studying either, unless it’s something that really interests me…
like these tortillas! I love, love, LOVE the convenience and deliciousness of flour tortillas, but you’re totally right – most brands use some really nasty stuff in theirs. Have you ever made pancakes with chickpea flour? The beany taste is a little too strong for sweet pancakes, but savory pancakes…with Indian curries…mhm!
erika
YES! And they were awful! Haha…yes, I’ve discovered sweet pancakes with chickpea flour–not so much. But I’m totally excited to try some savory ones!!
Kiersten @ Oh My Veggies
Okay, I JUST bought garbanzo bean flour for the first time last week, so clearly you posted this just for me, right? 🙂 I’m really not a huge fan of store-bought tortillas, but making them myself seems so involved. But these? These I can totally do!
erika
Ooh exciting! Clearly, of course 🙂 I was really debating calling these tortillas or wraps because the consistency isn’t exactly like a traditional tortilla…but I really love the nutty (or is it beany?) flavor! Also, you should make chickpea fries. THEY ARE ADDICTING. I used this recipe: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/chickpea-fries but baked them instead of frying. SO GOOD! Popped em like…french fries 🙂
Katie (The Muffin Myth)
Damn! These would have been puuuurfect with my kale and black bean breakfast tacos! And masa harina is darn near impossible to find where I live (as in, I’ve never found it), but chickpea flour has suddenly appeared all over the place. I’ll definitely be giving these a try! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
erika
Oh yum that sounds like a perfect breakfast. Sad about masa harina, but yay for chickpea flour! It’s probably more nutritious, right? Hope you like these! They’re so easy; I think I’m going to end up making a batch a week!
Natasha @ The Cake Merchant
I love the idea of using besan! It’s something that sits around in my pantry and doesn’t get used often enough, so I will have to try this recipe.
erika
Same here! Also: you should make chickpea fries. OMG DIE. So good!
Gabby @ GabbyLovesVeggies
How long do they last in the fridge? I’d like to make a batch for the week but I just wanna know how well they store, have you tried freezing them? They look great, I plan on using my Dosa pan to make them!
erika
Hi Gabby–I made these Tuesday and they’re still going strong in the fridge. I’d guess they’d last about a week in the fridge stored in a tupperware of some sort. I think freezing them might be a little tricky since they’re rather delicate, but with a batch this small I’d be surprised if you need to! Hope you like em 🙂
Gabby @ GabbyLovesVeggies
So I tried making some and it worked out amazing. I posted some pictures on my blog. Fantastic option for those of us who have celiac and miss giant tortillas. Saturday I made a falafel wrap, this morning I made a breakfast wrap. I had no idea how much I missed wraps…
erika
Ahh Gaby your wraps look so good!! I was thinking about making a hummus + veggie wrap with mine but I was like “too much chickpea?” Obviously not, since your falafel wrap looks AMAZING (I wish I could comment on your blog but I don’t have a tumblr so I don’t think i can 🙁 ) Thanks for letting me know how they turned out!
Tahnycooks
I’m so making these…..!!
erika
:))
veganmiam.com
Chickpea tortillas = amazing! Beautiful photos! I’ve been trying to find some tortillas at the local groceries – so far, no good! Do you know that tortillas are known as omelets in Spain while tortillas are just tortillas in Latin America?
erika
Thanks Rika! That is so interesting–even flour/corn tortillas are known as omelets? And wait, where do you live? How do they not carry tortillas???
Kammie @ Sensual Appeal
Wow I didn’t know tortillas are so simple, such simple ingredients. I have to get my hands on chickpea flour and make some of these myself! I love tortillas. Well done!
erika
Yes they are super simple!! Hope you like em 🙂
Kayle (The Cooking Actress)
Aw! Eric! Not cool dude lol
I agree, flour tortillas are the best–and it is SO cool that you made these with chickpea. For serial. Amazing.
erika
Hahaha thanks Kayle 🙂 Glad SOMEONE’S on my side!
Irina Wang
Oooh, WELL DONE. These look amazing, Erika! It’s always tricky to make tender tortillas that are whole wheat, so maybe I’ll give these guys a try. I love working with chickpea flour, and luckily I love the taste of it too.
erika
Thanks Irina! Yeah I think these are definite winners both taste and texture wise–chickpeas are the best!
Brandi
I’ve been meaning to try chickpea flour since I’ve seen it so much on vegan blogs and it produces that eggy texture. I’ve seen it in pancakes and crepes but I’ve heard it can taste really off, so I’m scared of it, lol! But your tortillas look delish! I’m sure enough spices could camaflouge the weird bean taste! With all those yummy fillings, I bet it’s fab!
erika
Ooh yeah I had a bad experience with it in pancakes once when I was mixing a bunch of flours (it just soaks up alllll the moisture and the flavor can be kind of funky when you combine it with chocolate) but I really like the pure, nutty/beany flavor on its own. You should try it! I got a huge bag for cheap at Fiesta–so good.